Speaking about the actress, Emmerdale’s producer Kate Oates said: "What she did do was donate her liver and also her corneas, so Kitty’s family and Kitty have hopefully given the gift of life to someone else through this tragedy, which I think is just a wonderful thing.

"She became friends with everybody, she was a real social butterfly – just this huge, huge presence. That’s what was really groundbreaking about her."

She added: "The word “inspiration” is banded around far too often but for Kitty there is no better word for her, she was just amazing."